Zano had his first trip out to see one of my best friends, Fran. She owns Pinto, who I shared for a while before I got Zano. She also owns Doug, a big bay horse, and we thought it would be nice for Zano and Doug to go for a hack together so they could be best friends, too. So, up we got into the trailer and away we went!

Zano behaved beautifully at the yard, hardly blinking at the countless ducks and chickens pecking the ground all around him. Oh, and the three dogs trotting about. He tucked into his haynet without a care in the world, and wasn’t even overly concerned when Doug appeared on the scene. Mind you, Doug’s an experienced horse, and he wasn’t going to fuss over a new horse by the stables, especially not one all dressed in purple!

There’s always a cup of tea on the go at Fran’s,
and she makes them awesomely!

We decided that we should hack up to the local JumpX competition, so that’s where we headed. Zano had never seen so many horses and so much coming and going. He got to watch the other horses jump round the course, too. I tried to whisper in his ear for him to pay attention. After all, I’m hoping that by the end of the season it’ll be us flying round there! He did watch for a little bit, but he was secretly far more interested in sampling the grass...

Hacking to JumpX, with Zano and Dougie
getting on like besties!

Zano and Doug watching the jumping....

Before Zano decided it was time to do
a bit of ‘grass inspecting’....

After this ride was such a success, we took Zano over to see the horse dentist, Leigh. Her stables are near Dunwich, with lots and lots of bridleways through the woods to ride on. Zano wasn’t flustered by the turkeys, the sheep or the many cats and dogs mooching about. The only time he got really upset was when he was left alone on the yard, when his hacking companion Harvey was turned out. But Leigh soon sorted that, and brought one of her mares in. Ruby stood quietly in the next stable to him while he had his teeth done.

Heading into the woods....

Oh, and before I forget, I’ve got to introduce you to the newest addition to our household! His name is Scooby, and he’s the most adorable 5 year old golden Labrador – here he is.... ta-daa! What do you think? Isn’t he sweet??

Scooby’s settled in really, really well.

In fact, it feels like he’s made our home complete.
I adore him, and already I can’t imagine life without him ☺

On a less happy note...

...Zano’s got a sore back again. He suffered from this last summer, and he had some treatment for it then. I always like horses to have their back checked regularly. When you think about it, they have to take a lot with a rider sitting on them, so taking care of their backs is the least we can do in return!

It wasn’t long after Zano had his new dressage saddle fitted that his back started to get sore. I noticed it first when I was tacking him up. He was starting to get agitated when he saw the saddle, which is what he was like when I first had him. Then he got touchy just being groomed over his back. So I stopped using the new saddle, and went back to my trusty synthetic GP saddle instead. It seemed a bit odd though, the saddle was well fitted but, just like the leather one I tried last year, Zano didn’t seem able to tolerate it. He’s been a bit funny to get on ever since I had him, and he always feels a bit explosive when I first get into the saddle. I put that down to his sore back when he first arrived, and the remembered pain from that time. Anyway, Steve the chiropractor came out to see him again, and worked on him for over an hour and a half. He found a sore spot behind his withers. He needed a couple of days off, and I’d have to ask Kay the saddler to come back to check his saddle, but I was hopeful that Zano was fixed once more. I was soon to find out though, that sadly this wasn’t the case...

Zano always stands beautifully when anyone
comes to see him – the farrier, dentist, saddler, back man.
I think he loves the attention!

Zano’s first experience of jumping!

There has been lots going on recently. The BIGGEST thing is that Zano’s had his first experience of jumping! We started off loose schooling him, so that he could have a canter around the school and find his own balance over the fences. It’s much easier for a horse to do this without a rider on his back, to begin with at least. We started off just leading him over a pole on the ground, at walk and trot. We put poles up leading into the ground pole, and away from it. That’s to help Zano keep straight on the approach to the fence, and to stop him ducking out. The last thing I wanted was for Zano to learn any bad habits!

Zano closely inspecting the poles!

Next we put the fence up, and asked him to trot into it.
He was a bit unsure to begin with, as you can see in this piccie...

... but he soon got the knack and pricked his ears!

Then, after we’d loose schooled a couple of times, it was time for me to get on board. This is only a small fence, but he still looks like he’s enjoying himself. It felt like he wasn’t that bothered by the small fences, and he didn’t really put much effort in until the fences got a bit bigger. My hands are a bit high in this pic of him jumping a smaller fence, but the time before he’d clonked a pole and had nose dived a bit, so I was being a bit cautious! Anyway, it was a real thrill to get him jumping, and I think he’d make good jumping horse, being able to turn on a sixpence like he can. I’ve been looking through the fixtures and there are lots of jumping clinics and small shows coming up – oooh, so much to look forward to this summer!  

Mud baths in the melted snow!

Well, the snow melted here today and Zano had a whale of a time, literally! Now, this is a horse who will normally go out of his way to avoid the smallest of puddles in his path. He’s been led through some on the lanes during hacks, but in general he’s always been far from impressed by anything murky and puddle like. But today, he decided that water is good – in fact, he decided that water is AWESOME!

There were lots of puddles on the way to the paddock too. Maybe I should have been warned when he paused, uncharacteristically, to stomp in one. I moved him on then let him loose in his paddock. There was a melted snow mini-lake in the middle of it. I went back into the stables, only to be told by Nicky that Zano was ‘taking a bath’. I headed out to see Zano rolling over and over in the huge puddle. I stood next to him as he proceeded to paw the ground, while lying down! Water was splashing all over the place. He then scrambled up, only to vigorously stomp about, sending water flying everywhere. He turned round a bit, then repeated the exercise until he’d sput a full circle. He clearly then decided that there was yet more fun to be had getting back down for another roll, and another paw from his horizontal position.

At the end of ten minutes water play I had one drenched, heavyweight rug but one very, very pleased with himself and ecstatic horse. It was worth it just to see the delight on his face. The only downside? I didn’t have my camera!!!

I lunged him soon afterwards (he hasn’t been ridden for nearly 3 weeks because of the snow and ice!). When I took his rug off he was soaked and grey / brown with mud from half way up his chest all the way along to his rump. Looks like I’ll have lots of grooming to do later!

A polo shoot in preparation for book 6!

I’ll let you into a little secret. The sixth book in the Pony Detectives series is going feature a polo yard and the lead character is going to be a star polo pony. I won’t give anything else away at this point, but I will let you in on a bit of exciting preparation. We had a photo shoot for the cover the other day, while the last of the snow was still on the ground. We headed to the Norfolk Polo Club. My boyfriend, Paul, used to work with the current owner, and he asked if they could help us out. Amazingly – and very generously – they said yes! They let us pick a selection of their ponies and then they brought them in from the paddocks. Those that needed trimming up were clipped there and then, and polo bridles were put on one pony after another for the photo shoot. The team (and the ponies!) were patient and so, so helpful – I couldn’t believe how awesome they were!

Megan, Chico’s owner at the yard, was the photographer. She’s a photographic student and she’s very used to ponies and horses being the stars of her pics so she was the perfect choice! She had lots of fun on the day, too, and we’ve both been bitten by the polo bug – we’re going to have a lesson! Once I do you’ll all be the first to hear how it goes – watch this space!

The snow puts a halt to any riding and I start preparing for Spring

Winter really set in a few weeks after Christmas. It started with the frost, which looked so pretty, but made the lanes around us too dangerously slippery to ride or lead Zano out on. Zano tried his super warm rug for the first time – I think he looked pretty handsome in it, don’t you?

After the frost, came the snow – and it fell really hard! Even the school surface froze. Zano only had one day when he went a bit doo-lally; I think he felt the need to let off a bit of steam and whizzed up and down at full pelt, slipping all over the place! Luckily he stayed upright – just!

A Winter Wonderland - but not much good for
riding in the school to the left of the photo!

While temperatures plummeted it was really important that Zano had plenty of fuel to keep him warm. That meant making sure he always had loads of hay to eat – whether he was in his paddock or in his stable, and lots of fibre in his feed.

Zano having a morning snack - he was topped up as soon as he finished while he
was out in the snow!

Even though we’re still in the depths of winter, surrounded by snow, it’s already time to start thinking about the springtime. That’s because I’ve got to be fully prepared for the return of the midges! Last year I discovered half way into summer that Zano had sweet itch. He was driven mad by the midges which hovered in clouds over him all through the summer. It’s important to start the battle of the midges early – if you wait until your pony starts itching, it’s too late! Well, this year I’m determined that he won’t suffer in the way he did last year. He rubbed his mane against anything and everything, and he lost most of the bottom half of it. It’s growing back, slowly, but I don’t want him to lose any more this year. So, I’ve come up with a robust plan!

Back in November I started to feed him a herbal mix from Hilton Herbs called Bye Bye Itch. This was to boost his immune system and get his skin in really good condition ready for spring time. I’ve also just bought a new ‘bug rug’, which is silver so it reflects all the sun’s rays. This way, even though Zano’s wearing a rug while it’s hot, he will hopefully keep as cool as possible. This rug’s got fly repellent soaked into it, so hopefully the bugs will bypass Zano while he’s wearing it! I’m taking every precaution this year, so midges beware!

Zano gets new boots!

Zano had his shoes taken off when he injured his knee. It seemed pointless keeping them on when he wasn’t doing any work. My farrier, Jason, recommends that horses have their shoes taken off once a year (if that’s possible) beacuse it allows the hooves time to recover from having nails knocked into them. The funny thing is, I think Zano moves better without them. He’s got brilliantly hard and sturdy hoof walls, but his hooves and front legs haven’t got the best confirmation. It might be that, without the shoes, his hooves can find their own natural balance. We’ll have to see! But, in the meantime, I’ve decided to try and keep him shoeless, with Jason just trimming Zano’s hooves every 6 weeks.

The only trouble is that when Zano goes out on a hack now the soles of his feet are really sensitive. It’s a bit like us walking barefoot on a pebble beach! Well, Zano’s a bit the same and every time he put his hoof down on the smallest bit of stone or pebble he stumbled. Luckily, there’s a solution – horse trainers! Yup, you read that right... they’re like little boots that fit over a horse’s hoof, giving the sole protection and grip, too. So, I’m hoping that this will allow Zano to stay shoeless for a while, and make it much more comfy for him to hack out over any terrain. As well as his boots, my boyfriend’s regularly been putting Stockholm tar mixed with hoof oil on the soles of Zano’s hooves and hoof oil on the hoof wall. His hooves are now – officially – in tip top condition!